Apertured wall element

ABSTRACT

A stay in place concrete formwork wall element comprises a major surface defining a portion of a face of the concrete wall, said surface having a plurality of uniformly sized and spaced apertures substantially throughout the surface allows concrete to seep partially through the apertures thereby providing an irregular trowelable surface facilitating the application of stucco or other wall coverings.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] This invention relates to formwork for pouring concretestructures. In particular, this invention relates to such formwork whichis designed to stay in place after the concrete has set.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] It is known to provide PVC formwork for forming concrete wallsthat stays in place after the concrete has set to thereby form sheathingfor the resulting concrete wall. However, by its natures PVC does notprovide a very good surface for the application of paint or stucco.Typically in order to be able to apply stucco to such PVC sheathing, itis necessary to first apply a base coat having some adhesive properties,applying a mesh to the material and subsequently applying the stucco.

[0003] It is an object of this invention to provide stay in placeformwork which nonetheless provide a surface suitable for theapplication of stucco.

[0004] It is a further object of this invention to provide stay in placeformwork adapted to optionally provide an external layer of concreteoverlaying the formwork.

[0005] These and other objects of the invention will be betterappreciated by reference to the following disclosure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] The invention comprises stay in place formwork wall elementswhich are provided with a plurality of small holes to enable theconcrete poured into the formwork to seep through the holes and tothereby provide a thin layer or beads of concrete on the side of theformwork forming a face of a wall.

[0007] Preferably, the holes are approximately one-eighth inch indiameter and are spaced about one sixteenth of an inch from adjacentholes.

[0008] Other aspects of the invention will be appreciated by referenceto the detailed description of the preferred embodiment and to theclaims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] The preferred embodiment of the invention will be appreciated byreference to the following description and to the drawings thereof inwhich:

[0010]FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of stay in place formworkaccording to the prior art;

[0011]FIG. 2 is a front view of a formwork element according to theinvention;

[0012]FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a formwork element accordingto the invention;

[0013]FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of a formworkassembly according to the invention wherein concrete has been pouredinto the formwork and has seeped through the holes in the element; and

[0014]FIG. 5 is a side elevation of a wall element according to theinvention showing beads of concrete having seeped through the apertures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0015] Referring to FIG. 1, one embodiment of PVC stay in place formworkaccording to the prior art includes wall elements 10 and connectingmembers 12. Each of the wall elements 10 defines part of the stay inplace sheathing for each of two faces or sides 14, 16 of the resultingconcrete wall. The connecting members 12 act to maintain facing wallelements 10 in spaced relationship. Adjacent wall elements 10 areinterconnected, for example by means of engaging means 11 on theconnecting members 12.

[0016] The wall elements 10 illustrated in the prior art formwork ofFIG. 1 include a flat portion 13 extending between engaging means 11,the falt portion 13 defining a flat face for the resulting formwork(which also defines a face of the concrete wall). Other designs of wallelements include non-flat surfaces such as concave or corrugatedsurfaces. The present invention may be applied equally to such elements,and indeed to any formwork element having a surface that contributes todefining a face of the resulting wall.

[0017]FIG. 2 illustrates a plurality of apertures or holes 18 providedin the surface of a wall element 20 in accordance with the invention.The apertures are uniformly sized and spaced, the dimensions beingbetween one thirty-second and one quarter of an inch in diameter andbeing spaced from one another between one thirty-second and threesixteenths of an inch. The preferred diameter of each aperture isapproximately one eight of an inch and the preferred spacing isapproximately one sixteenth of an inch.

[0018] The apertures 18 are provided substantially throughout thesurface. FIG. 2 illustrates interruptions 21, 23 in the uniform spacingof the apertures due to the presence of structures 25 (shown in FIG. 3).Nonetheless, it will be appreciated that the apertures are stillprovided substantially throughout the major surface of the element thatcontributes to defining a face of the wall.

[0019] The apertures are illustrated as being round, but they may infact be of arbitrary shapes provided there is substantially uniformspacing between the apertures to allow uniform flow of concrete throughthe apertures.

[0020] In an assembly using the wall elements of the invention, aplurality of apertured wall elements would be provided in interconnectedrelationship so as to define a face of the overall formwork wall, whichof course also defines a face of the concrete wall. Similar aperturedwall elements may be used on the opposite face of the formwork walldepending on the desire to achieve the objects of the invention for thatface.

[0021] When concrete is poured into the formwork, the apertures allow asmall portion of the concrete to seep through the apertures and to formeither a thin layer of concrete overlaying the wall element or aplurality of beads of concrete.

[0022]FIG. 4 illustrates a portion of such an assembly wherein one face32 of the wall is formed using apertured wall elements 28 according tothe invention while the opposing face 34 of the wall is formed usingunapertured wall elements 26 according to the prior art. The overallformwork also includes prior art connecting members 22 and 24. It willbe appreciated that the formwork segment illustrated in FIG. 4 isrepeated with interconnected segments to form an overall wall offormwork. In FIG. 4, concrete 27 has been poured into the formwork. Theconcrete seeps through the holes 18 to form heads 30 of concrete thatprotrude slightly to the outside surface of the wall element 28.

[0023] In the case where the concrete seeps through the apertures to asufficient extent to form a substantially uniform layer of concretecovering the face of the formwork, it may be desirable to trowel thelayer of concrete to produce a more irregular surface for theapplication of stucco, paint or other covering. In cases where theseepage of the concrete through the apertures causes a plurality ofbeads of concrete, the resulting surface may already be sufficientlyirregular for the application of stucco or other covering.

[0024] It will be appreciated that the invention provides a simple andeffective solution to the problem of providing stucco, paint or othercoverings over stay in place formwork.

[0025] It will also be appreciated by those skilled in the art thatalthough the preferred embodiment of the invention has been described insome detail, variations and modifications thereto may be practisedwithout departing from the scope and principles of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. [cancelled] A stay-in-place formwork element foruse in formwork for pouring a concrete wall, said element having asurface defining a part of one face of said wall, said surface having aplurality of uniformly sized and spaced apertures substantiallythroughout said surface.
 2. [cancelled] An element as in claim 1 whereinsaid element is made of polyvinyl chloride.
 3. [cancelled] An element asin claim 1 or 2 wherein said apertures are between one thirty-second andone quarter of an inch in diameter and are spaced from one anotherbetween one thirty-second and three sixteenths of an inch. 4.[cancelled] An element as in claim 3 wherein said apertures are oneeight of an inch in diameter and are spaced one sixteenth of an inchfrom one another.
 5. [cancelled] A stay in place formwork assembly forpouring a concrete wall, said assembly comprising a plurality ofinterconnected wall elements and a plurality of connecting membersmaintaining opposing faces of said formwork in spaced relationship, eachof said wall elements comprising at least one surface defining a part ofa face of the wall and having a plurality of uniformly sized and spacedapertures substantially throughout said surface.
 6. [cancelled] Anassembly as in claim 5 wherein said wall elements are made of polyvinylchloride.
 7. [cancelled] An element as in claim 5 or 6 wherein saidapertures are between one thirty-second and on quarter of an inch indiameter and are spaced from one another between one thirty-second andthree sixteenths of an inch.
 8. [cancelled] A stay in place formwork andconcrete wall assembly comprising a plurality of interconnected wallelements, each of said wall elements comprising at least one surfacedefining a part of a face of the wall, a plurality of connecting membersmaintaining opposing faces of said formwork in spaced relationship, aplurality of apertures substantially throughout said surfaces of saidwall elements, concrete poured within said formwork, said concreteextending through said apertures to form a thin layer of concrete on theoutside of said wall element.
 9. [cancelled] A stay in place formworkand concrete wall assembly comprising a plurality of interconnected wallelements, each of said wall elements comprising at least one surfacedefining a part of a face of the wall, a plurality of connecting membersmaintaining opposing faces of said formwork in spaced relationship, aplurality of apertures substantially throughout said surfaces of saidwall elements, concrete poured within said formwork, said concreteextending through said apertures to form a plurality of beads ofconcrete on the outside of said wall element.
 10. [cancelled] Anassembly as in claim 8 or 9 wherein said apertures are approximately oneeighth inch in diameter and are spaced from adjacent apertures byapproximately one sixteenth of an inch.
 11. [cancelled] A method ofapplying stucco to a concrete wall comprising the steps of: erectingstay in place formwork comprising wall elements having a plurality ofapertures substantially throughout a major surface of said wallelements; pouring concrete into said formwork; trowelling a layer ofconcrete that seeps through said apertures to produce an irregularsurface; and, applying stucco to said trowelled layer of concrete.
 12. Astay-in-place formwork element for use in formwork for pouring aconcrete wall, said element having: a surface defining a part of oneface of said wall; and, said surface having a plurality of aperturessubstantially therethrough, such that when concrete is poured into theformwork, the concrete seeps through the apertures to form a pluralityof heads or a thin layer of concrete on the outside of said formworkelement.